Paras with the Damp ability were a liability on an industrialized Cordyceps ranch, slowing down production and getting in the way of efficiency. But Nova was not running an industrial operation. He was a single Trainer with a backyard and a practical turn of mind.
As long as the mushrooms growing on the Paras' backs were usable, a little extra moisture was easy enough to live with. He could collect the naturally shed mushroom caps and simply have Growlithe use Heat Wave on them whenever it had a free moment. A bit of warm air directed at a pile of damp mushrooms would dry them out well enough. It was not a complicated solution.
The potions sold in shops were not cheap. If Nova could prepare his own supply of restorative materials at home, that would quietly cut down on a significant chunk of his regular expenses. Setting up a dedicated drying line for Damp mushrooms would never make sense for a large ranch, but for Nova, the cost came down to little more than an extra scoop of Growlithe's food. He could even count it as practice time for his partner's move proficiency.
Nova caught himself smiling at that thought, the kind of smile that comes from realizing you have found a very good deal.
Upon returning to his new home in Harmony City, the first order of business was settling the Paras colony into their new surroundings.
The little ones were timid creatures. Their large, round eyes would glisten with the threat of tears at nearly any sudden sound or movement, and they startled easily. Fortunately, having the Parasect nearby helped a great deal. The five Paras quickly fell into the habit of trailing behind their larger companion like ducklings following a parent, and that sense of security helped them adjust to the new environment faster than Nova had expected.
The Parasect itself was something else entirely. It was roughly half the size of a table, broad and slow-moving, and it had immediately located the coolest, shadiest corner of the bushes and claimed it as its permanent spot. It sat there for most of the day without eating, without drinking, without much movement of any kind, its glazed eyes fixed on nothing in particular. It was only when Nova observed it late at night that he caught it quietly feeding on tree sap from the nearby trunks.
There were old stories that the insect portion of a Parasect was no longer truly alive, that the giant mushroom on its back had long since taken over all its vital functions. Nova did not know how much of that was true, but communicating with the Parasect was not as difficult as he had worried it might be. Its responses were slow, and it gave no outward sign of enthusiasm for anything, but it followed Nova's instructions with quiet reliability.
The Paras, by contrast, were considerably livelier. On the first day, they stayed close to the Parasect, moving carefully and watching everything with wide, cautious eyes. By the second day, they had made up their minds about their new home and their new Trainer, and they scattered across the villa grounds with cheerful confidence.
This was exactly what Nova had hoped for. Five Paras huddled together in one corner of the backyard would concentrate their Damp field in a small, limited area. But five Paras freely roaming from the backyard to the front yard and through the open spaces of the villa would effectively blanket the entire property in a low, steady layer of moisture-rich air. For Nova's purposes, that kind of coverage was far more useful.
There was also a practical benefit beyond just the protective effect. Harmony City sat at the edge of the Tamar Desert. The moisture that drifted in from Dragon Fang Valley on the Western Plateau kept the climate from being completely arid, but it was still noticeably drier than the southern cities Nova had spent time in. Aresdra had commented on it more than once, pointing out that the dry air was doing her skin no favors.
With a small group of Damp-ability Paras keeping the immediate area around the villa pleasantly humid, Nova realized he could probably unplug the humidifier entirely.
To help the Paras feel at home, Nova bought twenty kilograms of Bluk Berries and scattered them around the yard on the first day, giving the little group something enjoyable to forage for. Berries were naturally more expensive than ordinary fruit, but Bluk Berries had no special in-battle effect and were not in demand as held items, which kept their price reasonable compared to something like a Sitrus Berry.
That said, a steady diet of berries every day was not realistic for the long term. Even Nova's main team had limits on how much berry-based food they received regularly, and the Paras were not battle Pokémon. He needed a more sustainable arrangement.
Nova reached out to a local fruit merchant and worked out a simple contract. Every three days, the merchant would deliver a load of fruit that could not be sold at market, pieces that were misshapen, lightly bruised, or simply not presentable enough for display shelves, and leave it in the front yard for the Paras. The fruit was perfectly fresh and ripe; it just happened to look less than ideal. The Paras, predictably, did not care what their food looked like. They ate happily and without complaint.
It was a good arrangement for everyone involved. The merchant moved product that would otherwise be thrown out. The Paras had more than enough to eat. And Nova kept his property secure without spending much at all. On top of that, he set aside a monthly budget for ten kilograms of Bluk Berries to give the group a regular treat and a change from the everyday fruit.
The Parasect's preferences were slightly different. It showed little interest in the fruit piles and seemed to find most of what was on offer beneath its attention. Tree sap was clearly what it wanted, and Nova had noticed it gravitating toward the older trunks in the backyard each night. To accommodate this, Nova bought several Sugar Maple saplings and planted them in the open spaces among the bushes.
He then had Sprigatito use Grassy Terrain repeatedly over the saplings, channeling energy into the soil and pushing the young trees to grow faster than they naturally would. Within a short time, the saplings had grown into small but sturdy trees, thick enough at the trunk that the Parasect could begin feeding from them properly.
Sugar Maple sap was famously the sweetest of any tree species. Humans had been making maple syrup from it for generations, and Bug-type Pokémon responded to it with even greater enthusiasm. It was the kind of thing that could stop a Pinsir mid-march or send a Heracross completely off course. The Parasect was no different. Its feeding frequency increased noticeably once the young maples were in place, which Nova took as a sign of satisfaction.
The saplings were still young, though, so Nova set a rotation rule: the Parasect had to move between trees rather than draining any one sapling repeatedly. The trees needed time to recover between feedings.
The repeated use of Grassy Terrain had worn Sprigatito out considerably. The usually energetic Pokémon, who normally loved nothing more than testing itself against Purrloin in little games of cunning and chase, was left panting and thoroughly uninterested in any such activity for several days afterward.
Purrloin, meanwhile, had undergone its own quiet transformation over the past week. When Nova had first found it, it had been visibly thin, sharp-boned and wary. A week of consistent meals and a safe place to sleep had changed that. It had filled out noticeably, and when Nova picked it up, it felt soft and round in a way that was entirely new. These days, Purrloin slept in its cat bed during the day, helped itself to food from the storage cabinet at mealtimes, and made its patrol rounds through the front and back yards each night, a routine it had settled into without needing to be asked.
Aresdra had taken it upon herself to get Purrloin a small tag for its collar. The tag was made from a piece of precious metal Nova had recovered from Taylor's safe, polished smooth and engraved with a single word: "Prosperity." That was the name Aresdra had chosen for their newest household member.
Nova was not entirely sure it suited a cat. It sounded more like a name for a dog, or possibly a shop. He said as much.
Aresdra pointed out that Purrloin had brought good fortune to the household. Ever since it arrived, Nova had come into a windfall, and the windfall itself had literally come from a safe that Purrloin had personally cracked open. If that was not a little God of Fortune, she did not know what was.
Nova thought about it for a moment. He could not really argue with that.
So "Prosperity" it was. Purrloin did not object. Given that it was a creature who had spent its life without a name, without a home, moving from one day to the next on its own, having a name at all was something new. It meant it had somewhere to belong now.
That was more than enough.